Crowley Lake & Bridgeport Reservoir

Hard for me to pick which one to fish! They are both fishing as good as they get, and have the best conditions fly fishers have seen all season with good numbers of bigs showing daily. You can experience some painfully slow bites in both areas especially during the late morning/ middle of the day doldrums before the breeze picks up. The non-stop, Under-cator plunging all day, 50-100 fish to net we saw only a handful of years ago are just not to be in either location anymore. I said as good as they get, not as good as they have ever been. Stocking programs on both lakes are increasing since the declines in recent years and both fisheries will improve for numbers in the future. Crowley received DFG browns this spring and has been planted earlier due to excellent water conditions. Both locations have significant numbers of small rainbows that have been recently planted. They have infiltrated all areas of Crowley and you can't avoid them currently.

Elbow yourself into good spot and you can have fun with some trophy sized fish in between the dinks (new arrivals). Early mornings have been the most consistent on both bodies of water. The Bridge & Crowley are both full pool with fine water clarity. Weed lines end in the 18-20 foot range so you must locate clearings near creek inlets, submerged creek channels, or large "holes" in the grass. Stillwater nymphing has been productive in both areas with the most consistent fishing in the 11-15 foot depths with some "trout-codders" hanging bugs down 18-21 feet.

Wet years always make for a significant callibaetis emergence and you will have more opportunities using these imitations as opposed to chironomids near the inlets in McGee Bay, Hilton, and the Upper Owens on Crowley; Robinson & Buckeye inlets, or the EW channel on the Bridge. Trolling damsel nymphs and small perch fry from your tube can also be productive in these locations if you have the room to roam. The east shoreline around the marina to the launch ramp along the "drop off" is very consistent on the Bridge using our Punk Perch patterns or Loebergs #10-14. Loebergs on Crowley seem to be the ticket out in deep water along the weed lines, and then close to the shoreline along the protruding grass during low light periods. Use a "killa-baetis" callibaetis nymph as a trail fly in both areas.

The chironomids are showing in McGee Bay out in the deeper water where the bottom did not go dry when it was lowered this spring. Both larva and pupa/emerger patterns are performing on the mud. The deeper water has perhaps been more consistent, but it not nearly as fun as hooking them in short water and seeing your backing!

Both lakes have reached their high levels this year and will begin lowering steadily in the future. The weed lines will become more apparent and make it easier for those without GPS and sonar to find spots to fish and spread out. Shaping up to be a solid fall season in both locations.

Alpine Lakes
Tubing Rock Creek Lake has been WFO according to Two Bug Doug. Some 2-3 lber's in the mix as well. Troll near the inlet and south shoreline drop-off with full sinks. Seal buggers, Spruce-a-Bu's, Loebergs are all good choices with a full sinking or heavy sink tip line. Good reports from Twin Lake Mammoth. Still water nymphing with tigers or zebras and callibaetis patterns working very well near the falls.

Silver has also been hot using the still water nymphing technique near the inlet and along the drop-offs. Frank and Eric Carlsen (veteran drifters) told me they out fished the "darkside" 10-1 recently. Zebras whacked them here. Virginia Lakes is awesome this time of year and is enjoying a consistent bite recently. Streamers will get you a shot at the larger fish and still water nymphing will put you in the numbers. The copper tigers and emergers work better here for nymphing.

Adobe Pond
This will be a great fall to fish Dobe. Lots of water means lots of food and the wild browns are fat and happy here. The Drifters guide staff all agree that the fish have a larger average this year as well as the numbers being up. This is one of the best places to sight cast to rising browns on a private piece of water in the Sierra. We use our drift boats to cover the water efficiently and in comfort. Click Sierra Drifters Adobe Ranch page for booking info please.